Integration of Microbial Fuel

Cell and Septic Tank system

Objectives:-
1. Construction and design of the non-mediated Microbial Fuel Cell.
2. Utilization of Waste Water and Production of electricity using non
Mediated Microbial Fuel Cell.
3. Isolation and identification of indigenous micro-organisms responsible
for generating electricity.
4. Optimizing the process for generation of electricity.
5. Developing and testing lab scale microbial fuel cell for energy harvesting
from waste water.
SOURCES:-
The various sources used in the study of production of electricity from waste
water using MFCs are as follows:-
(i) Sewage water
(ii) Domestic waste water
(iii) Industrial waste water
Using the sewage water sources the experiment was carried out at laboratory
scale and the various observations was noted down.
Construction:-
1. The microbial fuel cell chamber was made of plastic bottles. The anode
was at the bottom, and the cathode at the top of cylinder-shaped reactor.
2. The anode and the cathode chamber were separated with the help of Glass
wool and glass bead.
3. Graphite plates were used as the anode, and the cathode of the same
material.
4. The fuel (waste water) was supplied to the bottom of the anode, which
was stored in the Reservoirs and was pumped into the anode.
5. The cathode compartment at the top was left for the effluents.
6. The electrodes were connected with platinum wire to the supplied load
and a multimeter.
7. The cathode compartment was aerated at various rates with the help of
air-pumps, for the Cathode reaction.
8. For accelerating the cathode reaction we used saline water at the bottom
of the cathode.
 Materials and cost estimation:-
Materials Less than three hundred dollars (around 18000 rupees) was spent to obtain
the materials for the cell. Three materials were ordered by mail and represent most of
the cost:
• Carbon cloth impregnated with platinum 1 mg/cm2 (XC-72, 17 cm x 17 cm), $149.99
• Gore-Tex fabric, $18.49/yard
• Plain Weave Carbon Fiber Fabric (5.7 Oz/Sq Yd, 50" Wide, .012" Thick, 12.5 x 12.5 Plain
Weave), $59.99/yard While we ordered a yard of each fabric to meet the minimum
order size this was far more than we needed to build one cell. Other materials were
obtained at a local hardware store
• Two one-liter bottles of soda pop
• Plastic Tubing
• Roll of aluminum screening (36” x 84”)
• Two aluminum hose clamps
• Tube of silicone caulk
• Recycled plastic milk jug
• Box of probiotic septic system treatment, Rid-X brand
Experimental Setup:-
Introduction:-
A microbial fuel cell (MFC), or biological fuel cell, is a bio-electrochemical system that drives
an electric current by using bacteria and mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature.

Type
Mediated
Most microbial cells are electrochemically inactive. Electron transfer from microbial cells to
the electrode is facilitated by mediators such as thionine, methyl viologen, methyl blue, humic
acid and neutral red.Most available mediators are expensive and toxic.

Mediator-free
Mediator-free microbial fuel cells use electrochemically active bacteria to transfer electrons to the
electrode (electrons are carried directly from the bacterial respiratory enzyme to the electrode).
Among the electrochemically active bacteria are Shewanella putrefaciens, Aeromonas hydrophila
and others.

PROCEDURE:-
1. The waste water was fed into the anode compartment from the waste
water reservoir.
2. Microorganisms present in the waste water oxidize the substrate and
produce electrons and protons in the anode chamber of MFC.
 3. Then the metal reducing bacteria present in the waste water directly
transfer electrons to electrodes (anode), using electrochemically active
redox enzymes.
4. Electrons are transferred to the cathode compartment through the external
circuit, and the protons through the membrane (Glass wool & Glass bead).
5. The cathode chamber is supplied with oxygen (air) from the air pump.
6. Electrons and protons are consumed in the cathode compartment reducing
oxygen to water.
The reactions taking place at the cathode chamber is as follows
4H+ + 4e− + O2 → 2H2O or
4H+ + 4e− + 2O2 → 2H2O2 (oxygen in excess)
(The above carried process is detailed described in the figure below.)
7. Figure: Mediator less Microbial Fuel Cell
(1) Oxidation of Fuel,
(2) Electron transfer from the microbial cells to the electrode,
(3) Electric load in the circuit,
(4) Proton supply into the cathode compartment,
(5) Oxygen supply and reduction at the cathode.
8. Due to the potential difference maintained at both anode and cathode
chambers, and due to the flow of electrons through the external circuit,
electricity is produced which is collected across the load.
9. The effluent and the subsequent waste water from the chambers are being
drained out and is sent to the sewage treatment plant for further treatment
of waste water.
10.Again fresh waste water (substrate) is supplied to the anode chamber from
the reservoir. And, thus the process continues.
11.It was found that a mixed culture of substrates (Industrial waste +
Domestic waste) generated a current that was six fold higher than that
generated by a pure culture.
Results:-
1. After inoculation and feed application in continuous mode, increase in
current was observed in the MFCs with duration of operation.
2. The potential was measured using a digital multimeter and converted to
power according to
P= iV
Where
P = power (W),
i = current (A),
V = voltage (V).
3. The COD removal efficiency after two weeks of continuous operation
was greater than 80% with average COD removal efficiency of 86.5%
and that of BOD was 88.46%.
 4. The COD and BOD removal efficiencies observed in the MFCs
demonstrated its ability to be used as theeffective wastewater treatment
process.
5. The cathode compartment of the MFCs was aerated by supplying
compressed air.
6. The DO (dissolved oxygen) in the effluent observed was in the range 3.75
to 4.88 mg/L.
Conclusion:-
1. Performance of the mediator less microbial fuel cell
demonstrated its effectiveness for the treatment of wastewater
with COD and BOD removal about 90%. The electricity can be
recovered from the MFC during treatment of wastewater.
Increase in current and voltage production was observed with
decrease in resistance between the electrodes, reducing the
substrate diffusion limitations.
2. The production of current in the MFC depends on several
factors. With continuous improvements in microbial fuel cell, it
may be possible to increase power generation and reduce
production and operating cost of
3. MFCs and the treatment of waste water. Thus, the combination
of wastewater treatment along with electricity production
paved a great way in compensating the cost of wastewater
treatment, thus making it sustainable.
SCOPE :-
1. Microbial fuel cells have a number of potential uses. The most
readily apparent is harvesting electricity produced for use as
power source. Virtually any organic material could be used to
feed the fuel cell, including coupling cells to wastewater
treatment plants. Bacteria would consume waste material from
the water and produce supplementary power for the plant. The
gains to be made from doing this are that MFCs are a very clean
and efficient method of energy production. Chemical processing
wastewater and designed synthetic wastewater have been used
to produce bioelectricity in dual and single chambered mediator
less MFCs (noncoated graphite electrodes) apart from
wastewater treatment. Since the current generated from a
microbial fuel cell is directly proportional to the energy content
 of wastewater used as the fuel, an MFC can be used to
measure the solute concentration of wastewater (i.e. as a
biosensor system).
2. The strength of wastewater is commonly evaluated as
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) values. BOD values are
determined incubating samples for 5 days with proper source of
microbes; usually activate sludge collected from sewage works.
When BOD values are used as a real time control parameter, 5
days' incubation is too long, thus an MFC-type BOD sensor
can be used to measure real time BOD values.
3. A number of companies have emerged to commercialize
Microbial Fuel Cells. These companies have attempted to tap
into both the remediation and electricity generating aspects of
the technologies.
4. This technique of electricity production and waste water
treatment using microbial fuel cells can further be
researched to be of great use at industrial scale.
5. Many MFCs can be configured into one unit for more power
generation and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of
the proposed project.
Limitations:-
Power generated by the cell may not be enough to run a sensor
or a transmitter continuously. This is the principal problem
with using microbial cells. It can be solved by increasing the
surface area of the electrodes. Also the other solution is to
use a suitable power management program: the data are transferred
only when enough energy is stored and this occurs by
using ultra capacitor [132,137].
Finally, the other limitation of MFCs is that they cannot operate at
extremely low temperatures due to the fact that microbial reactions
are slow at low temperatures
Submitted By:-
ANMOL PANDEY
RANJESH RANJAN
ASHISH GAUTAM